Tomato Harvest on Christmas Eve + Steamy Kitchen on TV

I had my first tomato harvest, on Christmas Eve. Of course, I don’t consider the green tomatoes that fell off from the branch of my bigger tomato plant that broke as “harvest.” But then again, the term “harvest” is really relative, isn’t it?

Steamy Kitchen on TV

Another blogger dish cooked on television! I made David Lebovitz’s Coconut Frozen Yogurt last week. Oh my god was I exhausted that morning! I had just flown in from teaching 2 classes in Los Angeles late evening and Nathan had 103F fever and kept waking up. Slept for 1 hour, woke at 4am to get to the studio for 6:40am on-air.

b) Trying to look perkier than 1 hour’s worth of sleep with a bouncy ponytail. HORRENDOUS. I can’t out-perk Rachel Ray, even with a pony-tail.

c) Schlepping frozen ice cream insert from home to station, 30 minute car ride in a cooler with ice. STUPID IDEA. I made the fro-yo at the studio, but the yogurt didn’t freeze completely! At the end of the news broadcast, the news anchors all come back into the kitchen with me to finish up and see the final dish. You won’t see this part in the online video clip, but we all pretended it was frozen!! haha!! Of course, this was just days after I emailed Greg tips on ice cream photography! DUH! (btw, he got to meet Todd English. I’m so jealous. Todd has soft hands. Is it strange that I like men with soft hands?! I digress. Another post, I promise.)

I did manage to look at the camera more and for the most part, it went really well. In the next few days, I’ll post a poll for which blogger dish to cook on my next broadcast, January 22nd. Send any nominations in the comments below!

Here is the link to the clip – click on the “Featured Video” right above the photo. They use Windows Media Player.

**

Message from the Boys

Oh yeah, the boys wanted to say, “Merry Christmas!” to you!

Here they are with their new monkey dolls that Mimi (grandma) hand made for them. I had one of these when I was little, in fact, I think my Mom kept it for me. Did you have one?

***

I love it. I’m an evil temptress! If my cooking career on television tanks, nice to know I could have an alternate career in soft porn.

I even tried growing them inside this fall, but in my dorm if they’re anywhere near where they can get sunlight, they’re close enough to a window to be too cold. My poor cherry tomatoes lasted through about mid-November…

I have to tell you, I’ve been cooking many of your recipes lately and you are making me look very, very good. Usually, I can’t boil water. But it’s been all thumbs up at our house for every Jaden recipe I’ve prepared.

Hey Jaden!
Happy Happy Holidays from our monkey gallery to yours! :o)
And here’s to 2008 being a year of great prosperity for Steamy Kitchen, and all the rest of us, too.
Those tomatoes look YUMMY! :o)
Then again you make everything look delicious. :o)
And you are so much better than Rachel Ray, who I like. But you are way cooler!

The tomato salad looks lovely–actually, quite a bit like haute cuisine! And, so simple–I might have to link back from my site just to show to simple a really good looking (and fancy-looking) dish can be.

Thanks for sharing about your most recent experience with TV. I know you do this for a living, but how did you ever get comfortable demonstrating in front of people (in a class or on TV).

Merry Christmas to you!

(P.S., I hope you’ve been checking back occasionally–I’ve tried to put some of your picture tips in practice, and I think the pictures look a thousand times better!)

The presentation on this is fantastic, love the simplicity and elegance of it.

I have a knife tip, excuse the pun, on how to cut a lot of small tomatoes or grapes at once. With a fabulously sharp knife and firm tomatoes you can place your open palm flat on top of a dozen of them, then cut through them all in one go sideways without your hand ever being in the way, saves a ton of time.

Isn’t Florida wonderful!? We, too harvested a handful of cherry tomatoes over the holiday. Ours were by accident. A few tomatoes that had fallen off the vine over the summer sprouted in the fall and are thriving without much attention.

I’m excited for you and your TV appearances – I know how much work goes into a segment…no matter how big or small, the workload seems to be the same. I’m sure you were wonderful (and shame on the producer for not letting you know about the stripes).

Two tomatoes, or even one teeny-weenie tomato or anything else – the fruits of what you’ve nurtured is a joy to behold. The tomatoes are truly a harvest – n they look lovely on the plate – simply elegant!!

I really wish your TV show was on air in India -it would have been great to know someone on Television!!!

In December, anything that you grow and can eat is called a harvest, and those little yellow cherry tmatoes are so sweet, I am jealous!! A very Merry Christmas and a new year blessed with love, laughter and health!

A few comments as I also grow the Fall/Winter tomatoes…..In Tampa, Florida.

I have four bushes this year; 2 Better Bush, 1 Roma and 1 cherry….and I also threw in an eggplant.

I planted 2nd week of September…perhaps a couple of weeks early. However, the fruit is flowing in and I am giving away cherry and roma tomatoes.

I found in the poor soil of Tampa that I got much better results using large plastic planters (20-30 inches across) and filling them with Home Depot’s Garden Soil. I then fertilize every three-four weeks as well. They grow with abandon.

For those unfamiliar with home-grown, the skins are a lot tougher, but that is well offset by a burst of flavor no store-bought fruit will match.

I’d really like to know how you grew tomatoes in Florida. When we lived in California my husband grew the most amazing tomatoes, I mean prize winning type tomatoes, the envy of the neighborhood tomatoes. We tried here, we built a raised bed, planeted, watered, tended bought all sorts of things for the tomoatoe plants, spent about $400.00 and had ONE tomatie. It is the most expensive tomatoe in history! What oh what did we do wrong?